


Liver Let Die

by steelballrunners



Category: Supernatural
Genre: FBI Agents Dean Winchester and Sam Winchester, Gen, mild swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-02-14 17:02:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2199801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steelballrunners/pseuds/steelballrunners
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam, Dean and Castiel get more than they bargain for when they take up a very "not-natural" case involving the victims missing a very strange organ to be taken - the liver. Things take a turn for the worst when they finally realise what they're dealing with... and it's not going down without a fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Exactly 11:53pm

Dean flung himself down onto the hard, dusty bed and landed on his front, groaning as his face made contact with the rough motel-standard duvet. Castiel stood silently in a shadowed corner of the room with his back against the cream peeling wallpaper and watched Dean with a confused expression on his face.  
“Sam, we’ve been stuck here for two damn days and there’s still no sign of this…whatever-it-is.” Dean’s voice was slightly muffled as he spoke into the sheets, as if he wasn’t returning to the surface for a breath of air. “And Cas is being about as much use as the Impala with flat tyres,” he added.  
“Well why don’t you do something useful and ask the locals if they’ve seen anything weird?” Sam asked, looking up from his laptop as Cas looked to him and shrugged.  
“You're forgetting that I'm not allowed to leave,” Dean complained as he rolled over slowly to the other side of the bed to reach into a half-empty crisp packet. “Something about me being a 'dangerous wanted criminal’.”  
Sam sighed and rose to his feet. “I’m heading to the diner – do you guys want anything?” Cas shook his head.  
“Pie. Pie would be nice.” Dean grinned as he faced Sam. “Cas never gets me pie anymore,” Dean complained as Cas rolled his eyes at the comment. The door slammed behind Sam as he left. The angel stepped forward to Sam’s laptop and tilted his head to the side. Dean followed his gaze and interrupted Cas’ thoughts “Don’t bother. It’s still frozen on that porn website.”  
Castiel gave up and sat down carefully at the table, spreading out books over it. He flicked his beige trench coat behind him and let it hang around the shape of the seat. “You want me to be useful, right?” he muttered as Dean turned his face back into the pillow.  
“That would be a start.” Dean’s dark green jacket rose up over his layers as he stretched his arms above his head.  
After a moment of silence, Cas spoke again. “What kind of things are we looking for? Are there any signs?”  
“At the moment?” Dean thought for a moment. “Anything unusual. Sam found something in the local paper about three unexplained deaths in the past week,” Dean sat up on the bed and chucked the newspaper in Cas’ direction. “Look for connections between the victims, anything that they or their deaths have in common.” Cas caught the newspaper with his right hand as if it was no big deal, then looked up to Dean and nodded. He took out the files on the deaths as Dean flopped back onto the bed, eating what was left of the crisps.  
After what seemed like to be hours of silence, the door swung open. “Hey guys, I’m back.” Sam closed the door behind him, carrying a white plastic bag which crinkled against his red plaid shirt and dark blue jeans as he moved.  
Cas looked up to Sam and smiled. “I’m…uh…” Cas paused for a moment before deciding on the word “helping.”  
“Sammy! Did you bring pie?” Dean interrupted whatever direction Cas might have been going in with his sentence, which had trailed off into muttering as the angel compared files.  
“Yes Dean, I brought your pie,” Sam reassured his brother, in a tone which said ‘you’ve already asked me a million times already, of course I wouldn’t forget your pie’, to which Dean held out his hands expectantly. “Did you find anything yet?” he asked as he handed over the pie. Dean nodded his head towards Cas as he ate, indicating that he’d been doing nothing, as usual. Sam sighed. “Could you at least try to help for once, Dean?”  
“I think I’ve got something interesting here,” Castiel piped up, concluding something from his research.  
“It’s not my fault I’m stuck in here! I work better in the field-“ Dean started before turning his head in the angel’s direction. “What’ve you got, Cas?”  
“All three deaths were estimated to be at the exact same time on three different days...” Cas trailed off as he re-read the files again, to double check his conclusion.  
“What time was that?” crumbs of pie spluttered over the motel bed as Dean spoke with his mouth full.  
Cas ignored Dean’s projectile of whatever pie he was eating and continued, “11:53 to the exact minute.” He looked confused. “But how can they tell that?”  
Dean brushed the pie crumbs to the floor. “The obvious solution seems to be that the clocks stopped.”  
“Oh...” Cas looked down at the files again in embarrassment, looking at the words but not reading them.  
“Cas, I’ve got no idea. I’m bored out of my mind here, okay?” the older Winchester brother stuffed more pie into his mouth as he looked from Sam to Cas helplessly.  
“Why don’t you let him go to one of the scenes? I’m sure he’ll be careful.” With that, he added “he’s not being very helpful here…” Castiel nodded from the files to Dean to prove his point.  
“That’s true,” Sam sighed and nodded. “Okay, fine.”  
“Great! Let’s go.” Dean stood up as Cas stayed sitting down, not looking up from the paperwork.  
“I’ll be here if you need me.”  
“What, you’re not coming?”  
“How would I be of any help?” the angel asked quietly, still embarrassed from his error.  
“You can see stuff we can’t,” he stepped closer to the table. “And get us out of a tight corner – not that I’d need saving of course, but Sammy…” He trailed off and shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal.  
“Of course it’s never you who needs rescuing, Dean.” Sam folded his arms across his chest.  
“Before we go, Sam, would you mind having a look at this with me please?”  
“Sure, what is it?” Sam looked down at the files that Cas slid across the table in his direction.  
“The time of death is the same, there are no visible marks on the bodies-“  
“And no obvious cause of death. What did the autopsy say?” Sam continued as Cas scrabbled around to find the autopsy file and handed it to him. “So get this, all of them had missing livers but no scars or wounds for them to have been removed from.”  
“Anything else missing?”  
“No, just the livers...”  
“That’s just weird.”  
“So we’re looking for something that leaves no wounds and takes organs. Anything in your father’s journal?” Cas suggested.  
“I’ll check” Sam muttered as he rummaged through the journal as Castiel watched over his shoulder.  
“Anything?”  
“No. I can’t see anything like that in here.” He flicked through another couple of pages. Some of the words were written in a bright blue ink which had smudged across the page when John had written it. “It could be witches.”  
“You think so?”  
“How the hell does something remove an organ without exit wounds?” Dean groaned. “And what would want a load of livers anyway?” He looked thoroughly disgusted. Cas shrugged and glanced across at Dean, smiling slightly.  
“Some kind of ritual maybe?”  
“A ritual? With livers?” Dean shuddered. “Do you think the library would have something about that in the local legends?”  
“Are there any more connections between the deaths? I mean, could we find out who will be next?” Castiel looked down at the files, hoping the three could have a lead to follow.  
“Uh…” Dean rolled his eyes up to the top of the wall, where the damp was starting to cause a kind of growth underneath the wallpaper, as he tried to recall what he had read in the article. “Two middle-aged dudes and a med student. Apparently they all worked at the local hospital.”  
“This sound similar to what happened with the leviathans, remember?” Sam saw Dean’s blank expression and went on to explain further. “Innards turned to grey goop? Maybe something is in the food again.” Dean’s hand froze, with a slice of pie halfway on its journey to his mouth and he stared at the pie, then up at Sam like 'oh COME ON'.  
“But if it was in the food...wouldn't more people be dead? Plus, the deaths are all at the same time.” Cas reminded.  
Dean shrugged and stuffed the pie into his mouth anyway. “Good point. Where did they actually die? Are there any connections between the locations-?” Dean was interrupted by a shrill ring from Sam’s cell. Cas continued to read through the files as Sam turned around to answer his phone, his voice quieter as he paced the room.  
“…What? Okay…thanks.” Sam ended the call and wrapped his hand around the mobile tightly. “You guys, I hate to worry you, but the bodies are gone.”  
Dean choked slightly on the pie crumbs and spluttered. “Oh that’s just great.”  
“We should get down to the crime scene and see if we can find anything.”  
Dean snatched up the keys to the Impala off the side table and grinned. “Finally!”  
“How can I help you?” Cas looked up to Sam and Dean and put the files back into a neat pile on the worn wooden motel table.  
“Cas, you're shotgun today. I need the locations of the three deaths and right now, you're the one holding the files.” The older brother grinned and turned to Sam. “Sorry Sammy... Guess you'll have to find out what that backseat feels like.”  
“Oh come on, I barely fit in the back!” Sam complained.  
“I'm what-?” Cas started. “Are you sure you want to trust me with this?”  
Dean shot Cas a look as if to say ‘really? You pulled me out of Hell and you’re asking me if I trust you?’ and headed towards the door. “Suck it up Sammy.”  
“Locations…uh…” Cas destroyed the pile of papers quickly and searched through the files again. “31 Redpark Avenue, 52 Hill Drive and one of the offices at the hospital.”  
“Alright let's go - we've got some dead people to kill!” Dean grinned and walked out towards the black 1967 Chevrolet Impala, which looked almost strange to be seen in the motel car park.  
“Sam... If it's that much trouble, I'll sit in the back.” Cas followed Dean sheepishly.  
“No, it's fine Cas, the journey isn't too long.” He looked over to Cas who simply nodded.  
Dean opened up the Impala and rolled his eyes. “Stop being polite to each other, I’m feeling left out.”  
“It’s not our fault you have no manners.” Sam replied quickly, a small smile spreading across his features. Cas laughed quietly as Dean sighed and started up the engine; the roar and purr of it filling the silence.  
Cas sat in the front and looked around. “Do you need directions?” his voice wavered slightly in fear of what response Dean might give him. Sam climbed awkwardly into the back seat as Dean watched him in the rear view mirror and sniggered quietly but was silenced with a small nudge from Cas.  
“Sure, what’s our first stop?”  
Castiel was about to speak but he was interrupted by a thud in the backseat of Sam hitting his head on the cream carpeted roof inside. “Ow…this is why I stopped sitting in the back.”  
Dean laughed and Cas elbowed him again. “What?!”  
“52 Hill Drive is closest to here- are you all right Sam?”  
“I’m fine, thanks Cas.”  
“Sammy, you stopped sitting in the back when I started driving – which wasn’t for quuiiittee a while after you got a bit too tall.” Dean dragged out the ‘quite’ in a high pitched voice, emphasising his point. He put the Impala into gear and pulled out of the motel, deliberately swerving across the road to slide Sam across the leather backseat into the door.  
“Ow, for God’s sake Dean! Jerk!”  
The noise that escaped Dean’s mouth was almost his equivalent of a giggle. “Bitch.”  
Cas rolled his eyes. “Anyway, you need to take a left up here, Dean.” He turned around and whispered to Sam “Hold on tight.”  
Dean took the left turn quite a bit harder than necessary, watching Sam in the back mirror as he gripped the seat beneath him as tight as he could, however still being forced harshly to the right door of the car.  
“I did try to warn you, Sam.” Cas looked down at the map. “It’s not that much further, actually.”  
“Thank God,” Sam muttered quietly.  
“What was that?” Dean asked in an innocent tone of voice as he checked that the road was clear before swerving the car from left to right across it as fast as he could.  
“Just up here, Dean.” Cas pointed to a small two-storey white house with the main door marked off with yellow tape as they sped past. “DEAN!”  
Dean pulled a sharp U-turn and skidded to a halt outside the house, leaning forward over the steering wheel to laugh as Sam scrambled gratefully out of the car.  
Cas shook his head at Dean and got out, slamming the door of the Impala in the brother’s face. “You okay, Sam?” He walked over to the younger brother and stood beside him.  
“Yeah, I’m good Cas. I just wish certain people would grow up.” He glared at Dean to show who he meant.  
Dean chucked the keys to Sam as he climbed out. “You can drive to the next one then. Deal?”  
“I know he’s probably going to be mad at me-“ Cas started.  
“-And Cas, you slam that door again and you’ll be riding in the back until we’ve all got flying cars.” Dean interrupted.  
Cas laughed quietly. “It’s better than you being a ‘jerk’ to your brother, Dean Winchester.” Dean tried to glare at the angel but gave up after a second and a half of eye contact.  
“So protective over a car” Sam grinned as Dean decided to glare at Sam instead.  
“Anyway, haven’t we got a case to investigate?” Sam glared back at Dean and Cas found himself talking to only himself. “…seriously?” Cas sighed, walked up the wooden steps towards the house, lifted up the yellow tape with “CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS” printed in black capitals and ducked inside.  
“If you’re not going to respect her, you can kiss goodbye to those keys.”  
“Come on, Dean.” Sam followed up the steps and walked into the house, declaring himself as Agent Williams – a reference to the bassist of AC/DC (an idea of Dean’s) – and pulled out a fake FBI ID.  
Cas turned around in the dark main room to see Dean and Sam join him. The long white curtains were drawn across a large window facing the road, the once-cream carpet was covered in a path of dark, dirty footprints and masking tape outlined the body of the man whose body had now disappeared. The rest of the room seemed untouched; the furniture was left in place and no blood or bodily fluids covered the walls or floor. “You said the clock may have stopped, right Dean?” A small, round clock hung on the wall, the hands in place at exactly 11:53pm. Dean pulled out his EMF detector from his pocket and conspicuously put in the headphones. He glanced up and the clock but didn’t reply.  
Cas sighed. “It’s fine, you don’t have to answer me.” He walked towards the window to look out of it and stopped just in front of it to look down at the window sill and the painted wall underneath it. Dean pulled out one headphone and stepped closer to see what Castiel was inspecting as the angel kneeled down and put his hand against the wall, gently tracing the marks.  
“What is it, Cas?” Sam asked.  
“What do you make of it?” Cas turned his head towards the others. “To me it looks like nail scratches, but it could be something completely different.” He got up and stepped aside for the others to examine the strange markings on the wall.  
“It does look like someone used their nails to make these marks.” Sam nodded in agreement.  
“What kind of marks are they? Symbols?”  
“They must have been pretty damn strong – these marks are deep.” Dean whistled quietly.  
“I can’t read them. I’m not sure what language it is.” Sam looked closer then glanced at Castiel. “Do you recognise it, Cas?”  
“It might take a little while, but I think I can-“ Cas squinted at the marks and began to decipher them.  
“Son of a-“ Dean interrupted. “I’ve seen these in Dad’s journal.”  
Cas turned around to face Dean in a blur of movement. “You have?”  
“What is it?” Sam questioned.  
Dean took out a small black notebook and started scribbling down copies of the symbols with a black biro pen. “Yeah. I don’t know what they’re called, but I’m sure there’s a translation page somewhere.” He closed the notebook shut and stared down at it. “And from what I saw flicking through…these don’t mean anything good.” Dean straightened up and put the notebook back into his jacket pocket. “We should go to the next place as soon as we can. Sam, you check upstairs, Cas – you check the back rooms.” Cas nodded and disappeared as the sound of wings echoed around the main room as Sam made his way up the steep staircase leading to the floor above.  
Dean sighed and put the homemade EMF detector headphones back into his ears again and hovered it over the marks, raising his eyebrows as the lights flashed red and the high-pitched noise rang in his ears. He yanked out the headphones and swore under his breath.  
Castiel looked around the dark and almost empty room and muttered under his breath in a mix of English and Enochian as he noted the details from his observations.  
“Hey guys! There’s more in the bedroom!” Sam’s voice called out from upstairs.  
Castiel turned to face the bare wall at the very back at the house, which separated the room from the outside world, as a strong smell hit him in the face. He wrinkled his nose and stepped closer. “Uh…Sam…Dean?” he called out as he realised what he was seeing.  
“Yeah?” Sam replied, his voice louder as he stood at the top of the staircase.  
“Either of you got another pair of-“ Dean started as he stared down at his broken earphones. “What is it?”  
“You might want to come and see this…” Castiel started.  
The two brothers made their way into the back room to join the angel and stood either side of him, facing the dark wall. Sam reached into his bag, pulled out a torch and made a face as the smell hit him too. As he turned the torch on and shone it onto the back wall, the three could see that the cream patterned wallpaper was now covered in symbols painted on in fresh dark red blood which dripped down, to where it pooled into an inky puddle on the floor.


	2. Son of a Bitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So it's been a while since I updated...
> 
> Things are about to get weird for our trio. Somehow weirder than missing livers and blood on walls.

Dean looked up at the wall in horror and wrinkled his nose. A small chill blew across the back of Sam’s neck and he shivered.  
“The symbols…they’re written in blood,” Castiel muttered, mainly to himself more than to the brothers.  
“That’s…” Sam paused for a moment, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. “Interesting.”  
“Well something’s definitely been here.” Dean held up the earphones, which seemed to have exploded from the pitch of the EMF feedback and the plastic around the earbud had melted.  
Castiel stepped closer to the back wall and raised his hand towards it, inspecting it more closely. “This blood isn’t right.”  
“How can blood not be right?” Dean snapped quickly. In all his years of hunting in the family business, he had never been concerned whether blood was ‘right’ or not.   
“Come look for yourself.”  
“Thanks, but I think I’ll pass.” Dean looked like he was about to throw up at any minute. “Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it kind of stinks in here.” He backed away from the wall and leaned against the doorframe.  
“I’ll have a look then,” Sam sighed.  
Castiel dug his hand into his trenchcoat pocket and retrieved a small vial and tried to get a sample of the blood. Dean twisted the broken earphones around, threading the wire between his fingers and examined them as Sam moved closer to the wall to try to understand what Cas meant.  
“Also, this son of a bitch bust my headphones with the EMF residues-“ Dean paused for a moment, watching Cas try to get a sample. “-Do you just carry those in your pockets everywhere?”  
“Do I carry what in my pockets?” The angel looked down at the vial. “Vials? Yes.” He turned around and pulled a few more clear vials out of his pockets to show Dean.  
Dean raised his eyebrows. “Got some new headphones in there as well?”  
Castiel rolled his eyes and threw a pair of black earphones in Dean’s direction. “Don’t bet on me having some next time though.” The angel grinned and turned back to the wall. Dean grinned back and plugged them into the EMF detector again, turned it on and pointed it at the wall.  
“So, Sam, what do you think?”  
“-OW! SON OF A BITCH!” Dean yanked out the earphones and glared at the wall.  
Castiel turned around to Dean, surprised at the older Winchester’s reaction. “What’s giving off that much of a reading?”  
“That.” Dean pointed at the wall he was glaring intensely at. “Apparently.”   
“I told you it wasn’t right.” Cas stated.  
“Sammy?” Dean turned to his brother, wide-eyed in panic. “The hell is going on?”  
“I figured that as we’re going to the hospital later, we could use the microscopes to check this out.” Castiel screwed the lid back on the vial and stuffed it back into his pocket.  
“Yeah. Good idea.”  
“We should go to the next stop.” Cas turned away from the wall once more and noticed Dean scanning the room nervously.  
“Did you just break another pair of headphones, by the way?”  
“Uh…” Dean looked guilty.  
“We’ll stop by the store and get some more,” the angel reassured.  
“Stop breaking other people’s things, Dean.” Sam smirked.  
“Why are you both blaming me? It’s this!” His voice was a higher pitch as he raised it in defence and gestured at the wall.  
“I’m not blaming you.” Castiel replied calmly, then muttered, “they were yours anyway.” He shook his head quickly. “Shall we go to Redpark Avenue or the hospital next?”  
“Redpark is closer, I think.” Sam nodded.  
“I’d save the hospital for last – you might get another sample at the next place.” Dean reasoned.  
“Let’s get out of here then.”  
The three walked through the main room again, and past the police outside. Sam stopped for a moment to explain the scene while Cas picked up a small envelope and tucked it into his jacket before following Dean to the Impala. The scene outside was now darker as the sun began to set behind the buildings at the end of the street but the street was still lit up by the blue flashing lights from the police cars parked along the pavement.   
“What was that?” Dean asked turning towards Castiel, whose actions hadn’t gone unnoticed.  
“What’s what?” Castiel lied. He shuffled into the passenger seat and looked down at the map.  
As Sam climbed back into the Impala, he hit his head once more and groaned. “That envelope,” he added, proving that Dean wasn’t the only one who saw.  
“The one you just picked up.” Dean put the key in the ignition but didn’t start the car.  
“Uh…don’t worry about it.” Cas refused to meet the hunters’ eyes.  
“Cas?”  
Dean raised his eyebrows. “If you say so.” He started the Impala and turned to the angel. “Cas, directions.”  
Cas sighed quietly and looked down at the map. “Okay, so we’re here-“ he pointed at the road labelled ‘Hill Drive’, “and Redpark is here…” His pale index finger slid along to a small junction not far away. “So you need to keep going along this road and take a right at the end here.” He looked up to the road and made a gesture with his hand, then looked back down at the map to trace the path as he spoke. “And then keep going until you reach here.”  
“And gently round the corners please,” Sam added.  
“Hold on a minute.” Dean narrowed his eyes at the map and looked more closely.  
“What is it, Dean?”  
Dean leaned over and took a pen out of Cas’ top pocket and took the map from him. “The first one was here,” he made a cross over the house they had just been in, “the second one was here,” he marked the house along Redpark Avenue, “and the hospital is here.” He joined the three places with reasonably straight lines.  
“So…?”  
“I can’t see the map from back here.” Sam tried to lean forwards.  
“They look like three corners of a square…” He paused. “Or something else. Sam?” He passed the map back between the seats.  
“…wait,” Cas’ eyes widened in realisation. “Can I have a look at your notebook?”  
“Go ahead.” Dean opened the notebook to the scribbles of symbols he had just copied down from the walls and passed it to Cas.  
“Huh, I see what you mean about the square, has anything happened in the final corner?”  
The angel studied the symbols carefully and pointed to one. “I don’t think it’s going to be a square…” He muttered.  
“Looks like a housing estate to me, Sam.”  
“Well, it will start to look like a square and then…” He tilted his head to the side and turned the book around. Dean leaned over towards Cas again and looked down at the square-like symbol he was pointing at. “...No?”  
“It’s…” Cas looked embarrassed. “It’s just an idea… It might just be a coincidence-“  
“Oh. That’s not good. Sam, have you got dad’s journal with you?”  
“Sure.” Sam passed the worn, leather bound book to Dean who flicked through quickly until he found the right page.  
“Here.” Dean pointed at a symbol on the page of smudged ink and rushed writing.  
Castiel looked over at the page and nodded. “Yes, that looks like it.” Sam peered over the top of the seats.  
“…Destruction of the modern age.” Dean furrowed his brow. “Which includes modern medicine- oh of course.”  
“Oh wonderful.”  
“Those three people – they worked at the hospital. Two were consultancy staff and one was a student – head of the student committee, in fact. Positions of power.”  
“So…it has plans?”  
“Next is the housing estate…where most of the town planning is implemented.” Dean turned to face the windscreen. “Yeah, you could say it has plans.”  
“We need to get there now, to stop anyone else getting hurt.” Sam gulped quietly.  
“We’ve got until 11:53. Sam, get to the library, try and find the significance of that time in local legends or history. I can go via the house and meet you at the estate. Cas, make sure you go get the sample checked.” Dean commanded. “Cas, you can do that angel thingy. I’ll drop Sam at the library.”  
Cas nodded. “Until later.”  
“Call me when you find something.”  
“Will do.” With that, Cas disappeared from the passenger seat in the blink of an eye, leaving the echoes of wings beating behind him. Dean drove off on purpose before Sam could change seats.  
“Son of a- Dean!” Sam exclaimed.  
Dean laughed and drove faster until the end of the road where he swerved into a parking space outside the library. “Later, Sammy. Call me!”  
“You’re such a child, Dean” the younger brother huffed.  
The Impala roared as it drove away in the direction of the estate. Dean beeped the horn once in acknowledgement of Sam’s accusation and grinned.  
**  
Castiel reappeared in the dark shadows of an alley around the corner to the hospital. He sighed, dusted himself down and briskly walked in the direction of the entrance. He reached into his pocket to pull out a fake ID and as he walked inside, held it up (the right way up this time) to the tired receptionist who told him to wait. Her light blonde hair was tied up in a messy bun and she tried to smile at Cas but had clearly been on this shift for a long while. After a few minutes and a phone call, she directed him to the lab down the hall to where the medical student had died.  
The angel locked the door behind him and looked around. The lights were smashed and glass covered the blue floor, causing the room to be in darkness, with a small amount of light finding its way through the glass pane on the door. As Castiel stepped into the room, he muttered quietly “…marks on the table… The same symbols.” He paused as he inspected the marks closer, seemingly etched into the wood through the plastic layer which covered it. “No blood this time though..”  
As he sat down at the microscope and put some of the blood sample into a clear petri dish, Cas’ cell phone rang suddenly, filling the silent room with a high pitched default tone. Dean’s name flashed onscreen and Cas answered without hesitation.  
“Any ideas what this son of a bitch actually is?” Dean’s voice was loud through the speaker above the screen. “More to the point, how do we kill it?”  
“Uhm…well.” Cas looked through the microscope, still holding the phone to his ear. “I have an explanation for the liver.”  
“Go on.”  
“But I have no idea how to kill it.”  
“Great(!) What’s the deal with the liver then?”  
“Well,” Cas squinted at the sample as he added an indicator to it. “The liver has dissolved because of a build-up of bile, which has entered the bloodstream, making it very acidic. There are also these strange dark…how would you say, particles?” He sighed. “I’m still trying to identify the substance.”  
“Any idea what caused it?”  
“No…” Cas prodded the sample with a small utensil. “Maybe Sam might be able to help you with that.”  
“Yeah. Thanks anyway.” The phone went dead as Dean hung up. Cas placed the small phone on the desk next to him and muttered under his breath.  
**  
Sam entered the library and began to scan the aisles of books. He began to pull out heavy, hardback books from the white metal shelves and piled them up between his lanky arms and against his chest. He carried them over to a small wooden cubicle in the corner, setting them down on the desk with a thud. After a while of flicking through different myths and legends, his phone rang and his brother’s name flashed onscreen. His eyes widened and he answered quickly, to minimise the attention attracted to him.  
“Hey, what have you got?” he hissed.  
“Cas says the liver’s dissolved into weird dark bits. That’s what was in the icky blood. You?” Dean’s voice crackled through the phone.  
“So get this, I think we’re dealing with something from Chinese mythology.”  
“Oh nice, why exactly?”  
At this moment Cas reappeared behind Sam and placed a file in front of him.  
“Jesus Christ, Cas!” Sam dropped the phone onto the desk loudly.  
“But I’m not Christ, Sam. I’m only an Angel of The Lord.”  
“Sammy?” Dean’s voice broke up over the hearing distance between the phone and Sam, but he was clearly worried by Sam’s reaction. “You okay?”  
“It’s fine, only Cas making me jump.” Sam sighed and turned around to face the angel. “It’s only an expression, Cas.”  
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”  
“Cas? ...Jesus Christ.” Dean repeated quietly.  
“Anyway, these were the medical student’s files. He was studying blood patterns at the time…”  
“And..?”  
“He started to identify the black particles we’ve found.” He sighed and looked down at the file. “He didn’t get to finish though.”  
“What is it?”  
Cas turned to a page in the file. “Here.” He looked up at the clock hanging on the wall above a cubicle further along. “But we don’t have long. I have to go.”  
“Gonna tell me what you two are on about? I’m only getting half of this,” the voice speaking through the phone asked.  
Castiel noticed another cream envelope sticking out from one of the books Sam had picked out from the shelves, picked it out and looked at the royal blue writing on the front, before tucking it into his trenchcoat pocket with the one before. “Be at the housing estate before 11:53.” And with that, he disappeared again leaving behind the echo of wings.  
“Sam?” Dean’s voice asked quietly.  
Sam blinked at the spot where Cas had stood a moment ago and picked up the cell phone again. “A medical student started to identify the black stuff.”  
“And? What is it?”  
“Not sure.” He flicked through the file. “It wasn’t finished.”  
**  
Dean sat in the Impala, still talking to Sam on the phone, while rummaging through the glove compartment as he looked for a suitable ID. The housing estate was lit up by a few streetlamps but was mainly in darkness, except for a small building at the entrance, which he assumed would be the main office. As he found the one he was looking for, he climbed out and started walking towards building. “Helpful. Real helpful, Sammy-“ Dean was interrupted by Cas reappearing behind him, falling into step with the Winchester alongside him.  
“I brought you some headphones.” Castiel’s gravelly voice filled the silence.  
“-Oh hi, Cas. Thanks.”  
“At least you don’t jump out of your skin like Sam.”  
Dean took the headphones and stuffed them into his pocket. “Of course not. Sam’s the one who ran away to law school while I got special training on how not to jump like a frickin’ springbok every time something says boo.”  
Cas smiled to himself, knowing Sam was hearing the conversation as Dean held the small black cell against his ear. “The medical student didn’t finish his research because he was killed.”  
“Yes. By the creepy thing that blew two pairs of headphones.”  
“Hey! I don’t jump at everything, I was concentrating on my research.” Sam’s voice was barely audible.  
“Multitasking, Sammy - essential training. Shame you missed that part while you were out getting scholarships.”  
“Uh…” Castiel stared into the distance. “I’ve got to go sort something out…I’ll be back.” He looked back to Dean but didn’t meet his eyes. “How much longer do we have?”  
“Not long. The hell have you got to do that’s so important?”  
“Things.”  
“Specific. Thanks.”  
“You also might want to get Sam over here.”  
“Sam, you heard. Hurry up.”  
“What, so I have to walk?” Sam huffed.  
“Well I’m not coming to get you. So unless you can fly…” Dean looked over to Castiel who disappeared in front of his eyes. He blinked and shook his head. “Yeah, exhibit A here.”  
“Okay, fine, I’ll walk. See you in a bit.” With that, Sam ended the call.  
Dean waited alone outside the main office, which looked pretty ordinary. He looked around at the four other buildings which were in darkness, and the many others which were still in the process of being built. As he stepped into the warm light from the windows of the lit building, he looked up to the night sky and sighed.  
**  
“Hi” Sam smiled as he made his way across to Dean, his long arms swinging at his sides. His face was slightly flushed and he was carrying a backpack across his right shoulder.  
“I got you an ID.” Dean passed the black ID holder to Sam and adjusted his tie.  
“Thanks.”  
“I’ll stay out here. I think I saw something near that building.” He nodded over towards an empty building in the shadows of the estate, which appeared to be in the process of renovation. “See what you can find out about recent plans for this area.” Dean started walking off towards the building without waiting for Sam’s reply, only to turn around to see Sam following behind. Suddenly, Cas reappeared behind Sam and turned him in the other direction before disappearing again, leaving an echo of beating wings behind him. “Cas- What the hell?” Dean managed.  
“Oh…right, yeah.” Sam turned around and walked back into the main office as Dean stepped towards the older building. He tiptoed around behind the building, reaching one hand to the back of his jeans, where his gun was tucked at the waistband.  
Sam walked into the main reception and flashed the fake ID and badge at the receptionist. “Hi, I'm with the FBI. I was wondering if you could tell me if you've noticed anything strange around here recently?”  
Dean flicked on his torch and held it by his head, wrapping his whole hand around it as he slowly entered the boarded up building through a broken, splintered door. He made a face at the familiar smell – similar to the smell in the first house and spun around as something moved out of the corner of his eye. He shook his head and kept walking until a floorboard creaked. He stopped suddenly, eyes wide. “Oh shit” he whispered. Dean turned around, suddenly holding his breath as a shot rang out.

**Author's Note:**

> This is something that started as an RP with a couple of my closest friends, and I decided to test my fanfiction writing skills! Also a pretty cool fact - we didn't even know the monster we were choosing at the time, so it was just improvised - little did we know, the monster fit perfectly and is also mentioned in John Winchester's journal!  
> If you like it, let me know, I plan to write the rest of the chapters soon-ish..


End file.
